Only You Can Save Me
by Dolli aka Jaive
Summary: Kairi is plagued by her past. When Kairi begins to fear for her life, will Sora and Riku be able to ease their friend's fear and keep her safe? [SxK]
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Kingdom Hearts, no do I own any of the characters… yup.

So here goes my story, hope you enjoy!

Ring!

That was the bell that signaled the beginning of class for all the students at Destiny High (A/N: made up a name here :P) . Lockers slammed, and conversations ended abruptly as students went scurrying in all directions to make it into their classes to avoid receiving a tardy.

"Tardy again you three, eh?" said Professor Tildes as a girl and two boys hurried into the doorway as quickly as possible.

"I expect better of you, Kairi." The professor said with a look of disappointment on her face.

The red headed girl blushed a bit, embarrassed at receiving her second tardy of the week. Her two best friends who stood behind her, Sora and Riku, had steadily growing reputations for being late all the time, but she on the other hand made an effort to show up before the boys.

"Sorry" Kairi said meekly as the three guiltily made their way to their assigned seats.

"Alright class, I have decided that we are going to continue the movie we began last week. Please take out a clean sheet of paper and something to write with, and as you watch the movie take notes on things that you feel are worth writing down."

With that, Professor Tildes dimmed the lights and began playing the movie.

Kairi had already lost interest in the film, and soon found herself looking around the room. She glanced next to her to where Sora sat, his blue eyes gazing sleepily at the glowing screen and writing down a sentence here and there. Kairi chuckled inwardly as she watched him gradually begin to stop writing, his eyelids drooping until he finally fell asleep, his head slumping forward, a mop of unruly brown hair covering his face. Her gaze shifted to Riku who was sitting directly in front of Sora. Riku was actually focused intently on the video, the eerie glow of the tv screen casting a ghostly glow on his silver hair.

Kairi began to daydream as remembered how the three had first met when they were only about seven years old. They had instantly been friends from the moment they first met, hardly spending a moment apart from one another. Now, ten years later, their high school careers coming to an end, things had stayed the way they always were, but yet they had changed at the same time. As children will do, the three had begun to leave their childish appearances behind and had begun the long and often painful process of growing up.

She looked back at her two friends, taking the time to mentally note how much they had changed over the years. Both boys had grown a significant amount, towering nearly a foot or so above her. Instead of being the lanky and awkward boys they were just a few years ago, the two had now begun to fill out with a significant amount of muscle. This did not go unnoticed by the girls at school, who were practically worshipping the ground they walked on. Riku had learned to like all the attention from the girls, earning quite the reputation for being a bit of a flirt. Sora on the other hand felt overwhelmed by the attention, and felt almost downright annoyed. Sora was not interested in the girls in school for a myriad of reasons, mostly because the girls only liked him for his physical appearance as opposed to his personality. This often bothered Sora, and therefore he simply ignored whenever girls would make a pass at him. The only girl Sora wanted anything to do with was Kairi. She was his best friend, and proved to be so different from any other girl he had ever met. Sora sometimes thought to himself humorously if perhaps Kairi was some sort of different species of girl or something.

Kairi's daydreams screeched to a halt as the sound of the dismissal bell could be heard. She stood up and stretched before reaching for her school bag. She giggled as she saw Sora's sleeping form sprawled across his desk, a soft snore escaping his mouth.

"Wake up!" Kairi said cheerfully, thrusting a finger into Sora's side.

"Ouch! Hey-wha?" Sora mumbled, groggily looking up to see who the jerk was who dared wake him up. "Oh it's you. Hah. I must have fallen asleep during the movie" He said sheepishly as he looked down at his blank sheet of paper."oops" he grinned at her as he rose from his seat.

"Don't forget to bring your notes back to class next week, Ill be collecting them for a grade!" Professor Tildes called after the horde of students that tried to head for the door all at the same time.

"Ah crap" Sora said. "Why does she have to do that?"

"Eh, I didn't write down much either" Kairi said with a smirk as she showed him her blank piece of paper.

"Well, that makes two of us then."

"Come on guys, what's the hold up?" Riku called from the door way. "You'll be late for class if you don't hurry things up, losers" he grinned as he headed out into the hallway to his locker.

The three friends talked as they switched their books into their lockers and then immediately headed in different directions to their classes.

xxxx

Morning classes had finally come to and end and it was time for lunch. The students looked forward to lunch every day, seeing as it was the only time they could get away with gossiping, making plans and just being themselves.

"Hey you" Kairi said plopping down next to Riku at their usual lunch table. "What's up?'

"Not much. Just failed another algebra test, man that class is brutal."

"Well, if you actually took the time to _listen _in class instead of acting like such a flirt, you might actually pass!" She snorted.

"What, and lose all my groupies? Peh. I think not!" Riku grinned at her and stuffed a french fry in his mouth.

"Hey guys"

The two looked up to see Sora as he approached the table, taking his usual spot next to Kairi.

"How's it going?"

"Pimp-daddy-Riku here just bombed another math test."

"Ah hah" Sora said, a grin creeping across his sun tanned face.

"Oh shut up. You're just jealous."

"Nah, you can have em all. Slutty girls aren't my type."

"Whatever man, some of them are _hot_."

"Ahem." Came Kairi's voice, a disgusted look on her face. "There are girls present here. Don't wanna hear your boy-talk. Kay? Thanks."

"Gee excuuuseee me ma'dam Kairi." Riku taunted, giving the red head his trademark smirk.

"So guys, what's on the schedule for this weekend? It is Friday after all." Sora said trying to change the subject.

"Hm. Maybe we could do movie night and a sleep over. We haven't done that in a while."

"Dude, Riku, we totally had a sleepover _last _weekend. Your memory sucks."

"Your point?"

"Nothing. So I guess we'll just go to my house then, huh?"

"Yup, since Kairi's house has nothing to snack on except icky health food…YUCK."

"Hey! That's not true!"

"Actually he's right Kairi." Sora said with a laugh, quickly holding his hands in front of him as Kairi attempted to swat playfully at him.

"Jerks." She said with a pout.

"You know, when you have your face all scrunched up like that you look kinda cute… haha like one of those pug dogs or something." Riku said teasingly.

"Thanks…" She replied with a glare. "Any ways, back to our sleepover. Mom just rented a few movies the other day; I'll bring those with me."

"Sounds good."

"All right, I guess just come over to my place around seven or so."

"Good stuff"

The three friends continued eating, chattering as they finished their lunches and discussing the fine details of their plans.

xxx

Sora came home and instantly hit the refrigerator, scanning unsuccessfully to find something to quench his thirst.

_Ugh. Mom didn't buy any more sodas! _He thought to himself with disappointment. Just as he was about to settle for a glass of water, the front door opened again and in walked his mother, arms piled high with groceries.

"Hey Mom, let me give you a hand with that."

"Oh thanks honey" She said with relief as her son took all but two of the heavy shopping bags out of her hands and began to unload their contents and place them in their proper places.

She was proud of how big and strong her little boy was growing up to be. Certainly strong enough to help his mother with all the hard work around the house! That made things a lot easier on her lately, especially considering the fact that she was now about a month pregnant, and was already feeling tired and stressed out.

"Not a problem, Mom. I can tell you're very tired."

"Yeah, you're quick to tell."

"Actually, you seem to be tired all the time…is everything all right?"

"Well Sora, there's actually something I've been meaning to tell you." She said slowly as she put the last box of cereal in the pantry.

"What's up Mom? You sick or something?" A look of concern played across his face, his blue eyes intently fixed upon hers.

"You might want to sit down for this." She said as she seated herself at the kitchen table.

"Okay, I'm listening."

His mother paused for a moment, seemingly having a mental battle with herself. Finally she spoke in a slow, cautious voice.

"Sora." She said looking her son right in the eyes. " I'm going to have a baby"

_WHAT THE HELL? _Sora's eyes widened and his face blanched.

"What's wrong, Sora, are you upset?"

"N-no Mom." He stammered, trying to regain his composure. "It's just that didn't think you and Ryan were planning on having a kid. I mean…wow."

"Well, I just figured it would be nice for you to have a little brother or sister. Plus, I have really missed having a little munchkin zooming around the house. So Ryan and I talked it over and decided we both wanted to have a child."

_Oh. Well that's great. So now I'm going to have to have to a big brother, and be a perfect role model. Ugh…_

"Well that's great Mom, I'm happy for you and Ryan." He forced a smile and excused himself as he headed for his room.

_I can't believe I'm going to be a big brother. I never thought Mom would want another kid. This is so weird… It's already weird enough that she's getting married in a few months, but this… this is just so crazy. I guess if it makes her happy though…_

Sora sighed and began to remove his clothes and walked into his bathroom. Taking a nice long shower would help to calm him down after the news. He stepped into the shower, adjusting the temperature to his liking and let the steaming water run over his body. The heat gradually relaxed his muscles, and helped him to relax his mind. He closed his eyes and tried to stop his thoughts from crashing into one another.

In the mean time, Kairi had walked to Sora's house, videos in hand, humming a soft tune. She knocked on the front door and waited for an answer. Moments later the door swung open and Sora's mother's rosy face smiled back at her.

"Oh hello dear! Come on in. Sora's upstairs in his room."

"Thanks!" Kairi said stepping into the kitchen and then making her way up to Sora's room. As she got to the top of the stair case and headed down the hallway she could hear the shower running.

_I guess I'll wait for him in his room._ She thought to herself with a shrug as she walked into his room and sat on his bed. Looking around the room at his walls she smiled. There were so many pictures of the three of them together, all smiling and making funny faces. She giggled as she saw the picture of her on her tenth birthday when Sora had smeared cake icing all over her face. She had retaliated by smearing icing on his face as well. A single tear escaped her eyes as she felt so many memories of their childhood rushing back, the three of them always being there for each other, no matter what. There had been times when Kairi's mother had been beaten by her father after a fight, and Kairi, only eight or nine years old would climb out of her bedroom window and run to Sora's house. He would always let her sneak into his room, and would try to cheer her up. Sometimes they would fall asleep in front of the television, all of her fear diminished as she slept in his presence.

She remembered the year when her mother had finally called the police, and her father had been arrested and put in jail. Kairi was so young at the time that she didn't understand what was going on between her parents. All the fighting and crying frightened and confused her. Only when she was about fourteen did her mother clue her in on exactly what had happened. Kairi had been horrified when she found out that all the marks and bruises on her mother had not been from falling dropping something, but had come from her father. Riku and Sora were there to comfort her when she would break down out of the blue in a fit of tears, wishing she could have done something to stop it all from happening.

Kairi didn't even notice when Sora walked into the room clad in nothing but his boxers.

"Hey whoa! I had no idea you were here." Sora said embarrassed at his semi nude state. His cheeks turned red as he hurriedly pulled a shirt over his head and searched for a pair of pants. Only a few seconds later did he realize that her cheeks were tearstained, a far away look in her eyes.

_Whoa… is she all right? I haven't seen her cry in ages._

"Kai, are you ok?" He walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah…" she replied softly. She looked up into his eyes and saw a look of deep concern. "I was just thinking about some stuff… it's really no big deal, Sora."

"Are you sure?" He said as he reached out a hand to gently brush her tears away.

"Yeah, it's nothing."

"Better not be." He said with a grin, hoping to lift her spirits away from whatever it was that made her cry.

She giggled lightly in response and hopped up from his bed.

"So what's new with you?"

"Well actually… you're never going to believe this but…"

"What, what?" She asked bouncing up and down, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

Sora smiled at her excitement. She was so adorable sometimes, truly precious.

"Well you have to guess."

"Oh stop." She said impatiently. "Tell me!"

"Ok, ok. Here goes…my mom's having a baby."

Kairi's mouth fell wide open.

"Really?" She squealed.

"Yep"

"Oh my gosh that's soo cool!" She exclaimed as she threw her arms around Sora's neck and hugged him. "You're going to be the best big brother ever! Aren't you excited?"

"Well, I don't really know how I feel about it actually. I almost feel a bit offended. Kinda like she'll forget about me when the baby comes, you know? There's so much to do with a new baby, so much time that has to be spent with it. Feeding it, singing to it, talking to it, cleaning a million poopy diapers."

Kairi wrinkled her nose in disgust.

" Ewww…that's gross."

"Yeah well that's only the beginning. Pretty soon she'll forget about me." Sora said the last part in a voice so soft that Kairi could barely hear him. His eyes fell to the floor, looking a bit crestfallen.

"Oh no, Sora. Don't feel like that. Your Mom might be busy, but she loves you, Sora. I mean, you're such a great person…no one could forget about you even if they tried." A light blush crept across her cheeks.

"You mean that?" Sora said, touched by what the blushing girl in front of him had just said.

"Yeah, I do."

"Thanks, Kai."

"You're welcome."

The awkward moment was soon shattered as Sora's bedroom door swung open and in waltzed none other than Riku.

"What's up guys? Did I interrupt something?" He said with a smirk as he saw his two friends red faces.

"Nope."

"Hmm..okay."

"So who's up for pizza?"

"Oh Kairi, that's just what I was going to suggest. Good call!."

"You bought last time, Riku, so it's on me this time." Sora said reaching into his pants for his wallet and producing a twenty dollar bill.

"Cool dude." Riku said whipping out his cell phone to place their usual order, sausage, pepperoni and onions.

"Hey that's totally not cool, Riku!" Sora protested as Riku yet again beat him in the video game they were playing, due to a sneaky maneuver. "You're such a cheater!"

"Am not!" the silver haired boy countered.

"Actually, you kinda are.' Kairi said from where she watched on Sora's bed.

"You two suck, you know that? My own two best friends think I would dare cheat! Humph!" he smirked, knowing his friends were right. He never liked to lose when they played games, so he was always trying to cheat his way to victory.

The two played a few more rounds and then decided to call it quits, their fingers throbbing from pressing the controller buttons so much.

"Oh hey, look who already zonked out on us." Riku snorted.

Sora looked up after flipping the tv off and saw Kairi's small body curled up on his bed, snuggling with a pillow.

"She actually looks kinda cute… when she's asleep" Riku said with a smirk.

"Yeah…" Sora said, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Alright, I suppose we should call it quits too huh?" Riku said oblivious to the hazy look on his friend's face.

"Yeah, I'm pretty beat myself." Sora managed to say through a yawn.

The boys got ready for bed, and then arranged make-shift beds on the floor. They said good night to one another and turned out the lights, ready for sleep after a busy day.

Sora had only just fallen asleep when he heard something, a small whimpering noise that sounded from somewhere above him. Curiously, he sat up and listened again. Sure enough there it was, a soft sobbing sound. _Kairi._ He thought to himself as he slid out from under his blankets and made his way over to his bed. He sat on the edge of the bed next to her and placed a hand on her shaking form.

"Hey" he whispered to her. "What's wrong?"

She turned over slowly and looked over to see Sora's face in the dim moonlight. Fresh tears had made their silvery trail down her face and her blue eyes burned with emotion.

"Daddy…" She sobbed softly.

"Kai…" He said softly as he lifted his feet off the ground and slid onto the bed beside her, taking her frail body into his arms and held her.

"You miss him?"

"I…I had a nightmare. Daddy got out of jail…and tried to find me and Mom. He tried to… " she paused for a moment, struggling to speak "…he tried to kill us." She burst into tears once more and grasped hold of Sora's T-shirt and began to shake.

"It's ok, Kai. He's not here. It was just a nightmare. You'll be all right, I'm here."

"Sora…"

"Yeah?" he whispered back.

"D-don't leave me." She snuggled closer to him, comforted by his presence.

"I'm won't."

He continued to hold her, running his fingers gently through her hair until she had stopped crying and her breathing told him she was finally asleep.

_Poor thing. She's so frightened. _ Sora gazed at her, taking in her features illuminated only by the soft glow the moon lent. _She really is pretty. _Sora thought to himself as he looked at the sleeping girl for a moment longer. It amazed him sometimes how much she had changed over the years. Her long legs, slim body and delicate features earned her a great deal of attention from the guys at school. He couldn't blame them either. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his life. Her blue eyes were always so full of life, so full of energy. He hated seeing them so sad and lost. Sora took it upon himself to make sure that nothing could ever hurt this girl. He had made that clear in school when he beat the snot out of some lecherous guy at school that tried to make a move on her, and he certainly wouldn't let something like this harm her either. No way. She deserved so much more than that…

Taking one last look at her now peaceful face, he lowered his head onto his pillow and allowed himself to drift off to sleep again, all the while holding a sleeping Kairi in the safety of his arms.

(**A/N**) well there you have it. My first chappie of my KH story. Read and review!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts… as much as I'd like to. MEH

Xxx

Riku awoke the next morning to the sound of Sora's cat, Lily, purring in his ear. He smiled sleepily as he petted the little tabby cat. He and Kairi had given her to Sora for his last birthday. He remembered the day the two of them had made their way to the pet shop, and had the hardest time trying to decide what to get for Sora. All it took was one look into those soft blue eyes though, and then they knew that she was perfect for their friend.

Riku put Lily aside and sat in an upright position. He glanced over and his jaw nearly hit the ground as he took in the scene before him. Sora lay with his arm protectively wrapped around Kairi, her head resting gently upon his chest.

_Well that's weird. Hm… wonder what brought this about. _ He smirked to himself as he inched closer to the sleeping duo. He crept right beside Sora's ear and took a deep breath.

"Well what do we have here!" Riku said loudly enough to make Sora spring up.

"Man what the-oh, it's _you._ Man, what's the big idea?' It took Sora second to realize what his friend was referring to, and immediately Sora's face turned bright red. "Um, it's not what it looks like, seriously."

"Mhm. Save it." Riku said with a lopsided grin. It wasn't everyday he got the opportunity to tease his friends about something embarrassing like this.

Sora looked down at the red head that stirred slightly and snuggled close to him once again, obviously unaware of the intruder.

"Dude, she had a nightmare…about her dad. She was crying and was so afraid… I couldn't just sit there and leave her all alone!" Sora shot back defensively.

Riku's grin faded as he listened to the truth. He knew that Kairi had been plagued by memories of her father and the brutal manner in which he had treated her mother. It was something that they had had to accept about their friend. Riku remembered how she would cry for hours when they were younger, always reaching out for their support. Riku figured this was something that he shouldn't even mention to Kairi once she awoke. There was no need to provoke her when she was already having a rough time.

Riku averted his eyes to the ground, regretting the way he had taunted his best friend's honorable intentions. Riku wasn't sure why, but all of a sudden as the seriousness of the situation set in, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealously as he envisioned Sora easing her fears instead of him. Dismissing the odd feeling, he looked up at the other boy in front of him.

"I'm sorry Sora, I had no idea."

"Don't worry about it."

Sora smiled at Riku to assure him that there were no hard feelings.

A soft moaning interrupted their thoughts and the two boys directed their attention to the source of the sound. Kairi slowly stretched and opened her eyes, blinking at the bright sunlight that filtered through Sora's blinds. With sleepy eyes she gazed up at her two friends who sat on the bed beside her.

"Morning you two" she said softly, a light smile on her lips.

"Mornin'" came their response.

Sora smiled warmly at her, glad to see that she seemed to have slept well, and that the fear that had dwelt in her eyes the night before, so vivid and intense, was nowhere to found. Knowing that he was able to make her feel safe, and forget her fears made him glow with pride. Nothing was going to hurt this girl, as far as he was concerned.

"So what should we do for breakfast?" Riku asked, his stomach growling in protest.

"I'll make pancakes!" Kairi offered, springing off of Sora's bed.

"Mm… that sounds _great." _Riku said with a nod of approval.

"Um, don't think that you're just going to sit there and let _me_ do all the work!" Kairi giggled, pretending to scold him.

"I'll help you." Sora offered.

"You'll just eat all the pancake dough!" she cried, placing her hands on her hips.

"No, I promise, I won't this time!" He laughed remembering how the last time they had made pancakes he had picked out all the chocolate chips she had put in the dough, and kept dipping his hand into the bowl to lick the spoon.

Kairi pretended to be weighing a very important decision, but then after a few moments of exaggerated deliberation, she relented and smiled.

"Oh, all right."

"You know I'm just kidding. I wouldn't let you do all the work." Riku said as he stood up from Sora's bed. "Let's go make some food!" And with that, he headed for the door and zoomed down to the kitchen.

"Dork." Kairi chuckled as she and Sora followed him down stairs to make their pancakes.

Xxx

"Hey you got water ALL over me you jerks!" Kairi screamed as Sora and Riku ran through the sparkling water, splashing her as they ran past.

"Well we _are_ at the beach you know…sometimes that's what happens." Riku called after him as he waded out further into the ocean.

Kairi sighed and smiled as she looked down at her half soaked bathing suit. Every weekend the trio made a trip to the beach to relax and try to forget the stress of school. They would spend hours frolicking in the waves, having water fights and swimming. There was nothing that could compare to this she thought to herself as she watched her two best friends running after each other in attempt to tackle one another into the crashing waves. She slowly started to wade out deeper, not in any particular rush to go underwater, but just wanted to enjoy the water gradually cooling her skin.

This was her favorite place to be with her friends. It felt as though nothing else mattered in the world, not even her father. This was the place for her to go, and just release any kind of fear or worry. How could anything possibly go wrong in such a beautiful place? The ocean was crystal clear, so clear that she could watch her toes wiggle through the sparkling water. Various trees and plants lined the waters edge, lending it a very tropical appearance. Flowers of every color bloomed all over the island at this time of year. Every year she looked forward to the summer nights they would spend together at the beach, just lying on their backs in the sand, gazing up at the tiny stars that twinkled so brightly above them.

Her thoughts came crashing back to reality however, as she felt strong arms lifting her into the air. She hadn't noticed that Sora had snuck up behind her and caught her off guard as he slung her up over his shoulders and started to run further out into the water.

"Hey! Not fair!" she squealed as he ran, trying desperately to wiggle out of his arms, but to no avail.

"That's what you get for being the last one in the water!" With that he slowed down and lifted her off his shoulders and then proceeded to swing her back and forth, gaining momentum before releasing her. She flew into the air, laughing and giggling before she landed in the water with a splash.

She resurfaced a second later and shook the water from her hair which hung down in front of her face.

"Oh look, it's Kairi-the-sea-monster!" Riku joked.

"Very funny." She replied as she parted the hair from her face and glared at her two friends who stood grinning at her a few feet away. "You're so going to pay for that…"

She glared at Sora who stood with his arms folded across his chest and sporting a large grin. Kairi waded through the water as fast as she could and made her way towards the two boys. She smirked as she closed in on Sora and took a flying leap towards him. Her arms clasped behind his neck as her body collided with his, sending them both into the water.

When they resurfaced, Kairi still had her arms locked tightly about his neck, holding on as he stood up. Sora glanced down at her, barely catching the blush that had crept across her cheeks. They were still pressed close together, his bare chest firm against her skin.

"I-Uh…" Kairi was at a loss for words, embarrassed by the position they were in. "I'm s-sorry Sora, I didn't mean to be that close." She stammered as she took a step backwards.

Sora didn't respond to her at first and looked a bit dumbfounded for a split second before his normal grin returned

"Just can't resist me, huh Kai?" He joked, trying to end the awkward moment. Part of him almost _wanted _her to say yes for some reason. _Weird_.

"Oh shut up!" Kairi scoffed playfully and then swam over to a rather confused Riku.

Sora's gaze followed her as she engaged in conversation with Riku, starting a water fight. A strange feeling began to set in as he continued to watch her splash around in the water. There was something very…different…going on here. Something deep inside of him had begun to ache at the sight of her, yet it made him happy at the same time. Sora blinked in confusion as he tried to sort out the strange emotions that had been coming over him. Why was he feeling so weird around her? They had been best friends for years, why was now any different than before? Nothing had changed… had it?

He remembered the night he had crawled into bed with her and held her body so close to his. She had seemed so happy that he was right there with her. In the midst of her crying she had clung to him, almost desperately. He couldn't remember a time where she had ever expressed such intimacy with him before. Sure they were close friends…but this…it was so different. He could remember the feel her body next to his that night, making him feel proud and aware that the girl lying next to him _wanted _him to be there, _needed _him to be there.

_But what if Riku had been the one who had heard her? What if I had been asleep and he had been the one to comfort her? Would she have reacted the same way? _

His shoulders drooped as this crossed his mind. Maybe there was nothing different. Perhaps it was all in his head. She had been frightened.

_That's probably why she was holding onto me so tightly. _He thought to himself with a sigh. There was nothing different. He had simply imagined it. But that look on her face just a moment ago in the water… that flush of pink on her face, and the way she had delicately placed her hands upon his chest. He could have sworn that he saw something flicker in her eyes for a moment.

Sora sighed again and ran a hand through his tangled hair. Why did things have to get so complicated? Managing a half smile, he strode forward and decided to join his friends, and put his strange feelings in the back of his mind.

Xxx

The three swam around until the sun began to set and the temperature began to cool down. They toweled themselves off and gathered their belongings to go home. As they began walking up the beach Riku's cell phone buzzed and he spoke for a few moments before hanging up.

"Looks like I gotta go." He said with a grin.

"Booty call?" Sora said with a smirk.

Riku always had a different girl calling him every day. Riku didn't have much luck as far as relationships were concerned, and therefore he just liked being a flirt.

"Maaybe." Riku winked. "Nah, there's this new girl in my math class that got my phone number. Heh, she wants to help me study."

"Sure…" Kairi said skeptically.

"No, no, I'm totally serious. She's great. She noticed I was having trouble, and offered to help me out a bit."

"Yeah, I'm sure she will." Sora chuckled.

"Shut up!" Riku said, his cheeks turning a faint shade of pink. "Seriously, she's going to help me raise my grade so I can graduate-don't wanna repeat senior year you know."

Kairi and Sora nodded as he began to walk past them towards the path that lead to his house.

"She _is _pretty cute though!" He called over his shoulder as he disappeared over the dunes with a wave

Kairi and Sora grinned at each other.

Sora took the opportunity that he had alone with her to discuss the events of the other night. He had had been too embarrassed to talk to her about in front of Riku and wanted to speak with her alone.

"Hey, Kai…can I talk to you?" he said hesitantly.

She turned to him, the last of the sun's rays reflecting in her eyes.

"Yea sure, what's up?" She said, noting the cautious way in which he addressed her.

"It's about the other night…" he began.

"Oh…" her voice trailed off and her gaze fell to he ground. _He must be telling me how awkward it was for him the other night…_she thought. _I can't believe I made him stay with me. He must think I'm such a baby. I was so selfish…I wanted him there with me so much…I don't know why, but I felt like he needed to be there with me._

"I'm really worried about you." He admitted.

Kairi looked surprised.

"I know that your dad has always made you upset from time to time, and I know that it's hard for you to deal with…it's just that the other night you were so sad, so afraid. I haven't seen you so upset in ages."

He paused for a moment before continuing. "Are you ok, Kai?" A worried look filled his eyes as they gazed intently into hers, burning with emotion.

"To be honest Sora, I have been having nightmares for a while now, off and on. Sometimes I'll be fine, and then other times… I'll just have these dreams that are so real… so vivid. I feel like I'm right there in the dream." As she spoke her eyes moistened, her voice wavering slightly.

Sora impulsively reached out and pulled her to him, hugging her tight.

"He was so real…" She said as a few tears trailed down her face, soaking into Sora's shirt. "I could feel everything like he was right there…so close to me. The same look was in his eyes that he had with mommy. That crazy, horrible look. Those eyes… oh those eyes Sora… they were so cold." She gripped onto his t-shirt as she struggled to control her emotions.

"Kairi, kairi…" he whispered into her ear. "you know it was just a dream though. It _wasn't_ real. He's _not_ here. Don't let him get you so worked up. I hate seeing you this way." He squeezed her tight, pressing their bodies together.

He let her cry for a while longer, rocking her gently in his arms. _I can't take this… I really can't. She is such a wonderful, happy girl. Anyone who makes her feel like this should not be alive._ He thought angrily to himself, clenching his fists as he held her. She didn't deserve this. No, she was far too precious to him to for this.

Sora gently pulled away from her as she slowly started to relax, and placed his hands on his arms. He met her tearful gaze and lowered his voice.

"I can't take seeing you like this, Kai…I just can't."

Kairi could hear the compassion in his voice, and it warmed her heart instantly.

_Look at him…_she thought to herself. _As close as Sora and I have been before, and as sweet as he has always been…I have never seen this side of him before. His eyes…that look I see. So pure, and so caring. I could almost swear that he…no…it couldn't be. But he way he looked at me when we were in the water…it was that same look. Could it mean…no. No way…there's just no way._

"Please Kai, tell me what I can do to help you with this. Anything I can do…just tell me." He begged, interrupting her thoughts, and gripping her arms firmly as he spoke.

She thought for a moment before she spoke. Her voice was soft and he had to strain to hear her.

"Promise me… that you'll always be there for me."

"I will, I will. Any time you need me… don't be afraid to tell me anything. Even if you just need to sit down and talk…just don't leave me in the dark. I want to know what's going on inside that pretty little head of yours." Kairi was surprised to feel him take hold of her hand. Sora blushed, squeezing her little hand in his.

"I want to know that you're ok…and that every thing is all right. Promise me…" he looked at her, waiting for her response.

"I promise."

Sora sighed peacefully and his eyes closed for a moment.

"You have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say that" he admitted shyly.

She just smiled and squeezed his hand back, both of them blushing.

Xxxxxx

(**A/N**) well there's chapter two. Awww . Please R&R! No flames though please, if anything, constructive criticism.

Crazy Jaivy


End file.
